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1.30 espie 17:
1.88 nick 18: <h2><font color="#e00000">The Ports & Packages collection</font></h2>
1.25 deraadt 19:
1.47 naddy 20: <hr>
21:
1.88 nick 22: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Index</font></h3>
1.53 naddy 23: <ul>
1.88 nick 24: <li><a href="#Motivation">Motivation</a></li>
25: <li><a href="#Get">Getting Packages</a></li>
26: <li><a href="#stable">Ports and Packages Update for an OpenBSD Release</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#Manage">Managing Installed Packages</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#Use">Using Ports</a></li>
29: <li><a href="#Life">Life Cycle of the Ports Tree</a></li>
30: <li><a href="#X">Ports and the X Window System</a></li>
31: <li><a href="#Example">Example Use of the Ports Tree</a></li>
32: <li><a href="#Advanced">Advanced Usage of the Ports Tree</a></li>
33: <li><a href="#Create">Creating New Ports</a></li>
34: <li><a href="#Lag">When a Port Is Lagging Behind the Mainstream Version</a></li>
35: <li><a href="#Help">Problems and Contacts</a></li>
1.53 naddy 36: </ul>
37:
38: <hr>
39:
1.88 nick 40: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Motivation">Motivation</a></font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 41:
1.88 nick 42: OpenBSD is a fairly complete system of its own, but still there is a lot
43: of software that one might want to see added. However, there is the problem
44: of where to draw the line as to what to include, as well as the occasional
45: licensing and export restriction problems. As OpenBSD is supposed to be
46: a small stand-alone UNIX-like operating system, some things just can't be
47: shipped with the system.
1.25 deraadt 48:
49: <p>
1.47 naddy 50: <strong><font color="#e00000">
1.98 ian 51: The ports & packages collection does NOT go through the thorough security audit that the OpenBSD
52: base system does.
1.88 nick 53: Although we strive to keep the quality of the packages collection high, we just do not have enough human
54: resources to ensure the same level of robustness and security.
1.31 espie 55: </font></strong>
1.25 deraadt 56:
57: <p>
1.88 nick 58: The port collection, originally borrowed from
1.98 ian 59: <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a> and significantly rewritten, fills this gap.
1.88 nick 60: The concept is to have, for each third-party software, a Makefile that
61: controls
1.25 deraadt 62: <ul>
1.88 nick 63: <li>where to fetch it,
64: <li>how to do the fetch,
65: <li>what it depends upon (if anything),
66: <li>how to alter the sources (if needed),
67: <li>and how to configure, build and install it.
1.25 deraadt 68: </ul>
1.88 nick 69: This information is kept in a directory hierarchy under the
70: /usr/ports directory.
1.31 espie 71:
72: <p>
1.88 nick 73: Packages are the binary equivalent of ports. A compiled port becomes
1.98 ian 74: a package that can be easily installed and registered into the system using
1.63 rohee 75: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>
1.31 espie 76:
77: <p>
1.47 naddy 78: <strong><font color="#e00000">
1.88 nick 79: Packages look like simple <code>.tgz</code> bundles, but they should
80: always be added using
81: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>,
82: as there might be some extra information that only
83: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>
84: knows how to handle.</font></strong>
85: Tip: you can distinguish between packages and <strong>.tgz</strong> bundles
86: using
87: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_info&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_info(1)</a>.
1.31 espie 88:
1.88 nick 89: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Get">Getting Packages</a></font></h3>
1.31 espie 90:
1.88 nick 91: A large collection of pre-compiled packages is available for most common
1.98 ian 92: architectures:
1.31 espie 93: <ul>
1.88 nick 94: <li>On the CD-Rom (that you can order <a href="orders.html">here</a>),
95: <li>On the <a href=ftp.html>ftp mirror sites</a>.
1.31 espie 96: </ul>
97:
1.44 espie 98:
1.88 nick 99: Adding a package is as easy as
1.96 landry 100: <code>pkg_add pkgname</code>.
1.88 nick 101: If you are grabbing packages from a single source (a package repository),
102: set PKG_PATH to that repository URL, in order to grab dependencies.
1.31 espie 103:
104: <p>
1.98 ian 105: For instance, to install the Gimp package (and any needed dependencies)
1.101 sthen 106: for the 4.6 release on an i386 machine from the ftp site, do:
1.31 espie 107:
108: <pre>
1.101 sthen 109: # export PKG_PATH=ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.6/packages/i386/
1.96 landry 110: # pkg_add gimp
1.31 espie 111: </pre>
112:
1.88 nick 113: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="stable">Ports and Packages Update for an OpenBSD Release</a></font></h3>
1.45 espie 114: <p>
1.88 nick 115: The 2.7 release saw the introduction of a stable branch for the ports tree.
1.45 espie 116: <p>
1.101 sthen 117: For instance, to grab the stable branch for the 4.6 release:
1.45 espie 118: <pre>
119: $ cd /usr/ports
1.101 sthen 120: $ cvs -q -d anoncvs@some.anon.server:/cvs up -r OPENBSD_4_6 -Pd
1.45 espie 121: </pre>
122: <p>
1.88 nick 123: Starting with the 2.8 release, selected binary packages are also made
124: available.
125: Please refer to the
126: <a href="pkg-stable.html">stable packages page</a> to find out about
127: updated packages and important updates to the stable branch.
128: If you want to receive security announcements, you can subscribe
129: to the ports-security mailing list.
1.45 espie 130: </p>
131: <p>
1.88 nick 132: Package names are <strong>always</strong> changed in case of a package
133: update, to avoid any risk of confusion between a package from the release
134: and a bug-fixed package.
1.45 espie 135: </p>
136:
1.88 nick 137: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Manage">Managing Installed Packages</a></font></h3>
1.31 espie 138:
1.88 nick 139: The <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=packages&sektion=7&format=html">packages(7)</a>
140: manual page holds useful information about ways to manage
141: installed packages, solve conflicts (files that already exist) and handle
142: dependencies.
1.31 espie 143: <p>
1.96 landry 144: Starting with OpenBSD 3.9, an update mechanism is provided by
145: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>.
146: To update a package (and its dependencies) you must set PKG_PATH to a
147: repository URL which contains updates, and use
148: <code>pkg_add -ui pkgname</code>.
1.31 espie 149:
1.88 nick 150: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Use">Using Ports</a></font></h3>
1.31 espie 151:
1.88 nick 152: If a given package does not exist for your architecture, you may still
153: be able to compile the port. Besides, some users will want to compile
154: everything from source for various reasons.
155:
156: <p>
157: You can ftp the release version from the pub/OpenBSD/[version] (where
158: [version] is the release number) directory on any of the
159: <a href=ftp.html>ftp mirror sites</a>.
160: The release versions are the ones we ship on our CDROM, and have gone
161: through more testing than any snapshot.
162: Further information is available in the
163: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=ports&sektion=7&format=html">ports(7)</a> man page.
164:
165: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Life">Life Cycle of the Ports Tree</a></font></h3>
166:
167: <p>
168: The ports tree, like the rest of OpenBSD, is constantly changing.
169: <p>
170: The current ports tree <strong>may not</strong> be used with the previous
171: release. This is due to changes, typically with the port make process,
172: that require code based upon the OpenBSD-current source tree.
173: <p>The ports tree works as a single entity. Updating a single directory is
174: not guaranteed to work, as package dependencies may force you to update
175: and recompile vast portions of the ports tree.
176: It is strongly suggested that people don't track ports-current unless
177: they're prepared to deal with various problems.
178: <a href=mail.html>Mailing lists</a> such as
179: <code>ports-changes@openbsd.org</code> or
180: <code>tech@openbsd.org</code> will probably be invaluable.
181:
182: <p>You are advised to track ports-stable on a production machine:
183: we will try to keep the stable ports tree up-to-par with respect to
184: problems, and to provide timely binary updates as well.
185:
186: <p>Note that vanishing distfiles is not an issue, as
187: ftp.openbsd.org holds the complete repository. Even changing checksums is
188: not an issue: you can issue the command
1.59 espie 189: <pre>
190: make checksum REFETCH=true
191: </pre>
1.88 nick 192: to make sure you are grabbing the correct distfile for your ports tree.
1.59 espie 193:
1.88 nick 194: For definitions of <i>current</i> and <i>stable</i>, see the
195: <a href="faq/faq5.html#Flavors">OpenBSD's flavors</a>.
1.59 espie 196:
197:
1.88 nick 198: <p>A list of <a href="portsplus/index.html">daily changes</a> to ports
199: and ports-current is available.
1.47 naddy 200:
1.27 brad 201: <p>
1.88 nick 202: The ports-current tree can be retrieved via:
1.25 deraadt 203: <ul>
1.88 nick 204: <li><a href=anoncvs.html>Anonymous CVS</a> (see link). The command is
205: essentially <strong>cvs get ports</strong>.
206: <li>Anonymous ftp from
207: <a href="ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz">
208: ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz</a>.
209: This archive is updated nightly.
210: <li><a href="cvsup.html">CVSup</a>. See the example for using CVSup in
211: <a href="cvsup.html#checkout">checkout mode</a>.
212: <li>Your web browser using the
213: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/">CVS
214: web interface</a>.
1.25 deraadt 215: </ul>
216:
1.88 nick 217: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="X">Ports and the X Window System</a></font></h3>
218: There is some special magic in the OpenBSD X configuration files
219: that allows the ports tree to install imake-based applications under
220: /usr/local.
1.35 espie 221:
1.88 nick 222: <h3><a name="Example"></a><font color="#0000e0">Example Use of the Ports Tree</font></h3>
1.54 lebel 223:
224: <p>
1.88 nick 225: Let's say you managed to get a ports tree and you want to compile and
226: install the archiving utility <strong>unzip</strong>. You should be able to
227: do something like this:
1.31 espie 228:
1.11 deraadt 229: <pre>
1.31 espie 230: % cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip
231: % su
1.96 landry 232: # make install clean
1.31 espie 233: # exit
1.11 deraadt 234: </pre>
1.25 deraadt 235:
1.88 nick 236: Easy, huh ? Especially considering all that happened in the background:
1.31 espie 237: <ul>
1.88 nick 238: <li>Fetch unzip sources from an ftp site,
239: <li>Check the source archive integrity,
240: <li>Extract the unzip source,
241: <li>Apply OpenBSD specific patches,
242: <li>Configure and build the program,
243: <li>Create a binary package under /usr/ports/packages,
244: <li>Install that package.
1.31 espie 245: </ul>
1.25 deraadt 246:
247: <p>
1.88 nick 248: With OpenBSD 3.0, almost all ports automatically build
249: packages when installing.
1.31 espie 250:
251: <p>
1.88 nick 252: As ports get built, the /usr/ports/distfiles directory gets filled with
253: program sources, and /usr/ports/packages gets filled with binary packages.
254: Users with low connectivity may refer to
255: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=mirroring-ports&sektion=7&format=html">mirroring-ports(7)</a> for
256: an efficient way to grab all distfiles at once. In OpenBSD-current, you
257: can use the script /usr/ports/infrastructure/fetch/clean-old to track
258: old distfiles.
259: Note that the OpenBSD CD only includes the ports tree and selected packages.
260: If you wish to have the distfiles, you will have to get them through an
261: independent way.
262:
263: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Advanced"></a>Advanced Usage of the Ports Tree</font></h3>
264:
265: <p>
266: Ports tree has many features for the advanced user that make it a valuable
267: tool beyond basic installation. Advanced users may wish to tamper with
268: the makefiles (you should read the
1.63 rohee 269: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=make&sektion=1&format=html">make(1)</a>
1.88 nick 270: manual page first) or set various variables from the make command-line or in
271: <tt>/etc/mk.conf</tt>. These variables are described in detail in the
1.63 rohee 272: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=bsd.port.mk&sektion=5&format=html">bsd.port.mk(5)</a>
1.88 nick 273: manual page, and the porting documents below.
1.55 heko 274: </p>
275:
1.88 nick 276: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Create">Creating New Ports</a></font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 277: <p>
1.88 nick 278: If you are interested in helping to expand the OpenBSD ports tree
279: you should first read <a href="porting.html">porting.html</a>.
280: That page references the
1.66 jufi 281: <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/index.html">
282: FreeBSD Porter's Handbook</a>
1.88 nick 283: as well as OpenBSD specific policies and hints.
1.56 heko 284:
1.88 nick 285: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Lag">When a Port Is Lagging Behind the Mainstream Version</a></font></h3>
1.56 heko 286:
287: <p>
1.88 nick 288: The ports collection is a volunteer project. Sometimes the project simply
289: doesn't have the developer resources to keep everything up-to-date.
290: Developers pretty much pick up what they consider interesting and can
291: test in their environment. Your <a href="goals.html#funding">donations</a>
292: count for what platforms the ports can be tested on.
1.56 heko 293: </p>
294:
295: <p>
1.88 nick 296: Some individual ports may lag behind the mainstream versions because of this.
297: The ports collection may have a version back of a program from January while a new
298: version of the program has been released by its developers in May three months ago.
299: Often this is a conscious decision; the new version may have problems in it on
300: OpenBSD that the maintainer is trying to solve, or that have simply made the
301: application worse than the old version: OpenBSD may have different
302: <a href="goals.html">goals</a> than the mainstream developers in other projects,
303: which sometimes results in features and design or implementation choices
304: that are undesirable from OpenBSD developers' point of view. The update may also be
305: postponed because the new version is not considered a crucial update.
1.56 heko 306: </p>
307:
308: <p>
1.88 nick 309: If you really need a new version of a port, you should ask the <tt>MAINTAINER</tt>
310: of the port to update the port (see <a href="#Help">below</a> on how to find out who
311: the maintainer is); if you can send patches for this, all the better. To create proper
312: patches, you should refer to the <a href="porting.html">documentation on building
313: ports</a>.
1.56 heko 314: </p>
1.25 deraadt 315:
1.88 nick 316: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Help">Problems and Contacts</a></font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 317:
318: <p>
1.88 nick 319: If you have trouble with an existing port, please send e-mail to the
320: port maintainer. To see who is the maintainer of the port, type, for
321: example:
1.54 lebel 322: <pre>
323: % cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip
1.74 xsa 324: % make show=MAINTAINER
1.54 lebel 325: </pre>
1.88 nick 326: Alternatively, if there is no maintainer, or you can't reach
327: him/her, send mail to the OpenBSD
328: ports mailing list, <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@openbsd.org</a>.
329: Please don't use the misc@openbsd.org mailing list for questions about ports.
330: Corrections are always welcome, but in any case do please provide:
1.25 deraadt 331: <ul>
1.88 nick 332: <li>The output of <code>uname -a</code>,
333: <li>Your OpenBSD version, including any patches you may have applied,
334: <li>A complete description of the problem.
1.45 espie 335: </ul>
1.88 nick 336: For ports that don't build correctly, a complete build transcript is almost
337: always required. You can use the portslogger script, found in
338: /usr/ports/infrastructure/build, for this. A sample run of portslogger
339: might be:
1.54 lebel 340:
341: <pre>
342: % cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip
343: % su
344: # mkdir -p ~/portslogs
1.63 rohee 345: # make clean install 2>&1 | /usr/ports/infrastructure/build/portslogger \
1.54 lebel 346: ~/portslogs
347: </pre>
348:
1.88 nick 349: After this, you should have a logfile of the build in your ~/portslogs directory
350: that you can send to the port maintainer. Also, make sure you are not using
351: any special options in your build, for example in /etc/mk.conf.
1.54 lebel 352:
353: <p>
1.88 nick 354: Alternatively, you can
1.45 espie 355: <ul>
1.88 nick 356: <li>Use <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=script&sektion=1&format=html">script(1)</a> to create a complete build transcript. Don't remove the configure information.
357: <li>Attach the output of <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_info&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_info(1)</a> if it seems even remotely relevant.
358: <li><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gcc&sektion=1&format=html">gcc(1)</a> internal compiler errors do ask you to report the bug to
359: the gcc mailing-list. It does save time if you follow their direction, and
360: provide at least the various files produced by <tt>gcc -save-temps</tt>.
1.25 deraadt 361: </ul>
362:
363: <hr>
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1.47 naddy 365: <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
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